Four Metal Traders Are Accused
Of Bank, Mail and Wire Fraud

A Wall Street Journal Online NEWS ROUNDUP

Updated May 14, 2002 8:22 p.m. ET

NEW YORK -- Four metal traders stole more than $600 million from banks world-wide by obtaining financing for sham transactions that were then pledged as collateral for the loans, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.

"This is larceny as surely as breaking into the bank vault and hauling off bags of cash," said Jim Sheehan, acting agent in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's New York office. He said the defendants...